Ex-social Worker Charged

A state elderly abuse social worker who resigned under fire after not reporting the neglect of her mother has been charged in the case.

Virginia Belton, 40, has been charged with two misdemeanors -- culpable negligence, and failure to report abuse and neglect of an aged person, according to a Palm Beach County Court clerk.

The State Attorney`s Office also filed misdemeanor charges against her father, John Belton, for not caring properly for his ailing wife, who also is named Virginia. The charges: culpable negligence, and abuse and neglect.

The family lived together in Lake Park while the younger Belton worked as an abuse investigator for the Lake Worth office of the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. She resigned on April 25 after police and HRS investigations.